Investing in Matriarchal Power, Access, Care, and Traditional wellness (IMPACT)

Investing in Matriarchal Power, Access, Care, and Traditional wellness (IMPACT) is an Indigenous-led, community-based research project dedicated to transforming Indigenous women’s health and menopause care by centring Matriarchal wisdom, Indigenous knowledge systems, and traditional wellness. IMPACT responds to long-standing gaps in culturally safe women’s health and menopause care.

In many Indigenous communities menopause is a a time of deepening knowledge, relational responsibility, and movement into Matriarchal and Elder roles. IMPACT uplifts the lived experiences of Indigenous women and honours traditional wellness practices that have sustained communities across generations. Drawing on Indigenous methodologies, including Indigenous Storywork, Kitchen Table, and land-based practices, the project documents barriers and access to care, revitalizes traditional menopausal teachings, and identifies community-defined priorities for equitable and culturally safe women’s health services.

The teachings that guide IMPACT are beautifully reflected in Yarrow Matriarchs, a poem that anchors the project in land, ceremony, love, and transformation. Yarrow is both teacher and metaphor, offering nourishment and rhythm through every phase of life. The poem reminds us that menopause is not a breaking down, but a return: to land, to self, to Matriarchal knowing. This grounding shapes how IMPACT approaches care, research, and systems change which is through gentleness, strength, relationality, and deep respect for Indigenous bodies and knowledge.

This work is explicitly aligned with foundational frameworks and obligations, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, UNDRIP and BC DRIPA, In Plain Sight, and the MMIWG2S+ calls to justice. By investing in Matriarchal leadership and Indigenous self-determination, IMPACT seeks to reshape health systems so that Indigenous women and gender diverse peoples experience health services and menopause care that is safe, dignified, culturally grounded, and led by Indigenous knowledge and governance.

IMPACT is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).